Joker 2 Shares A Surprising Similarity With The Batman Prequel Series Gotham – SlashFilm

Warning: This article contains spoilers for “Joker: Folie à Deux” and “Gotham.”

In Todd Phillips’ 2019 “Joker,” Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix) is a nobody, in the sense that he is made to feel that his dreams and hopes amount to nothing, like that of a non-entity. There are some worthwhile layers to this character study, as Arthur is shaped by cyclical abuse and trauma, which he initially attempts to stifle by attempting to make people laugh. However, one bad joke after another escalates into a killing spree, and before he can even process what has happened, he evolves into a symbol of anarchy in Gotham, inadvertently infecting others with his madness. He starts as the Joker, but his life-altering act of infamy morphs the individual into an idea, shared freely among those obsessed with what they think he stands for, creating many who aspire to be Jokers.

Although this idea is merely teased toward the end of Phillips’ first film, “Joker: Folie à Deux” leans heavily into this shared identity that reflects the most violent and lawless aspects of what constitutes Gotham. Arthur is still a big deal, his trial being elevated into a spectacle that his followers rush to witness in droves, almost worshipping the cult of personality created as a defense mechanism by an utterly broken, disillusioned man that society had failed on some level. 

However, Phillips’ takes this idea to its utmost extremes by completely obliterating Fleck’s Joker in the film’s shocking, baffling ending, where Arthur renounces the existence of Joker as an actual alternate persona and ends up stabbed repeatedly by an inmate who mimics the Joker’s laugh, presumably embracing the mantle. He is not the only one obsessed with the mythology surrounding this figure, as Harley Quinn (Lady Gaga) relishes the anarchist fantasy of embracing chaos, and is ultimately disappointed by Arthur’s insistence to acknowledge his psychological trauma and true self, as it completely negates this shared dream.

This is not a new idea at all, as something similar and way more fleshed out has occurred in “Gotham,” a series that explores some of the most popular villains in Batman’s rogue’s gallery, even though an adolescent Bruce Wayne (David Mazouz) does not embrace his vigilante status until the series finale (!) of the five-season show. If you’ve watched even one episode of “Gotham,” you will be aware that the tone is deliberately campy and highly stylized, and that anything is possible when it comes to the interpretation of its wide array of comic book-inspired characters, from Oswald Cobblepot to Ra’s al Ghul. The series takes a unique approach in revealing its rendition of Joker, without ever using that title, as there were studio-mandated limits on the creative liberties that the series could take.